Page 36 of Wilder Love
Early Saturday morning in October, and conditions were perfect. We were on dawn patrol—me, Trav, Ryan, Cody Shaw was down from Huntington Beach, and even Oz was out here today. A gentle, steady offshore wind blew into the face of the wave and lifted it up. A big beautiful swell. And here we were, straddling our boards like a bunch of slackers, watching Remy zip across the wave and ride it all the way in. Like she owned the damn thing.
“Damn, but she’s hot,” Oz said, his head swiveling like an owl as he followed her every move. “She’s a honey trap.”
“Keep your eyes off her,” I growled.
Travis snickered. “You had plenty of time to think about the honey trap in Peniche.”
I punched his arm. He punched me back. Peniche was a sore subject. We’d just come back from an event in Portugal. It had been a shit show. My board had snapped in two when I rode a thick-lipped beast. The next day, the ocean was like a lake. I did my damnedest to get in a decent ride, but there was only so much you could do, and I didn’t even move on to the semi-finals. Which pissed me off. I’d had a fairly good season but nowhere as good as I’d hoped. That was the thing about surfing though. You couldn’t predict what the waves or the conditions were going to be like or prevent injuries. I’d come into the season with a sore shoulder, my rotator cuff—again—and even paddling out had been painful. But still. I’d take the bad with the good any day.
“We’re still the luckiest sons of bitches I know,” Trav said, echoing my thoughts.
“Damn straight. Beats working for a living.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Oz said.
We all laughed at that one as Firefly joined us in the lineup, a triumphant smile on her face. “You’re all proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I teased.
“Yep.”
“You should be. You’re extraordinary.”
“Extraordinary?” she asked, raising her dark brows.
“Extraordinary,” I said with a smile before I took off, paddling for the next wave. I rode the energy all the way in.
Win or lose, life was fucking good.
* * *
I leanedmy shoulder against the doorframe and watched Remy as she studied the framed photos on my living room wall. Most of them had been taken by her. A photo of In-And-Out. Costa del Rey at dusk. The pier at sunset. She’d given them to me for my twenty-second birthday. There were other photos that she hadn’t taken. One of my mom. Another one of my parents together. And one of Remy that I took with my phone. She was sucking on a cherry-red lollipop, her lips wrapped around the round tip. Candy porn for my walls.
She hadn’t been aware that I was taking the photo until it was too late to stop me. The camera loved Remy, but she didn’t love it, unless she was behind the lens. Remy spun around and clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes roaming over my living room—the braided rug on the hardwood floor, the gray sectional, the glass coffee table. My apartment wasn’t anything fancy, just a place to sleep and hold my things between my travels. My dad kept telling me I needed to buy a place, invest in real estate instead of paying rent. But my rent was cheap, and I hadn’t gotten around to buying my own place yet.
“Why are you here, Firefly?”
“I missed you.”
“Really.” I pulled her down onto the sofa next to me. “What did you miss? Because I just saw you this morning.”
She swept her tongue across her lower lip, her eyes lowering. “Did you wear those gray sweatpants for me?”
I propped my bare feet on the coffee table. “You shouldn’t be looking at my gray sweatpants.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t go commando.”
I pulled her into my lap, so she was straddling me, a risky move considering I was commando in gray sweatpants. Whenever she was near me, my dick stood up to attention. I was still trying to stay on the right side of that imaginary line I knew I shouldn’t cross. Kissing was okay. We couldn’t go past second base. Jesus. I sounded like a high school kid. Junior high, even. I was regressing.
She cradled my face in her hands. “Kiss me like it’s the end of the world. Kiss me like you’ll never see my face again.”
I didn’t want to live in a world where I’d never see her face again. My hands glided down her back and cupped her ass. “I don’t kiss on command.”
“How many girls have you kissed since you last kissed me?” She rolled her hips, grinding her body against my erection. My punishment for not giving her what she wanted.
“I didn’t keep count.” My hand tangled in her hair and I pulled her head down, nipping at her lips. She sunk her teeth into my lower lip and then she sucked on it.
“I hate you.”
“I know.” I smiled. “I hate you too.”
